GVC Holdings has become the latest operator to launch a shared liquidity pool for its French players with the launch of its partypoker.eu platform.

Launched Monday (June 4th), the new network allows players on its partypoker and bwin-branded dot.fr sites, as well as B2B partners including Pari-Mutuel Urbain (PMU), to compete against Spanish counterparts.

"Today's partypoker.eu launch represents a milestone for both French and Spanish players, who can now enjoy greater variety, reduced rake and bigger and better games on the new .eu platform," said partypoker managing director Tom Waters.

"We look forward to bringing our Spanish and French players together for the first time on our new and improved site."

Through partypoker.eu players will be able to compete for a guaranteed €1m in tournament prizes each week, with buy-ins ranging from €0.55 to €250. GVC is to double the roster of multi-table tournaments (MTTs) for French players, with Spanish players able to access the format for the first time.

To promote the new network, partypoker has brought in French professional poker and esports player Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier as a brand ambassador.

"I am extremely enthusiastic about joining partypoker to actively support their efforts to bring back the 'Poker First' mentality, live and online," Grospellier said.

"Our goal is to provide players and fans with an experience they deserve worldwide. partypoker will be aiming to bring their ambition, expertise and successful model to the dot.eu market with some big announcements coming soon."

The launch marks the first time PMU has allowed Spanish poker players to play via its offering.

Brewenn Cariou, business manager for PMU Poker, said the cross-border launch was taking place as the company looked to become a leading poker operator in Europe.

"This launch is just the beginning of an aggressive strategy with new announcements coming ahead of September," Cariou said. "But, following a joint decision with our partner GVC, PMU has decided not to accept player accounts outside France and Spain on dot.eu tables to preserve the ecosystem."